Why do so many small towns have a Chinese restaurant?
CBC
Stream This is Saskatchewan (formerly Good Question, Saskatchewan) on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published on May 21, 2024.
Venessa Liang thought her family's situation — being the only Chinese people in a small Saskatchewan town and running a restaurant — was unique.
"It honestly felt very alone growing up," she said. "It felt like we were the only ones."
Her family owned Ben's Place in Colonsay, a town of approximately 400 people about 55 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.
Liang said the family lived in the restaurant until they could afford a separate home. But even after moving out of the restaurant, most of her childhood was spent there.
"It feels like I grew up in the restaurant, if I'm being honest," she said. "So most of my memories are there."
It wasn't until Liang was older that she realized restaurants like Ben's Place dotted the Canadian landscape, not only on the Prairies but coast to coast to coast.
Liang asked the CBC podcast Good Question, Saskatchewan about Chinese restaurateurs in small towns.
The answer dates back to the first wave of Chinese labourers, who came to Canada to participate in the gold rush and build the railway, according to Ann Hui, author of Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories.
For her book, Hui travelled the country to interview Chinese restaurant owners in small towns.
Hui said that as Western fears about the Chinese population grew, many were forced into small communities to work in low-paying jobs, often in restaurants, convenience stores or laundromats.
"There were all of these kinds of laws that were put in place to really try to prevent Chinese people from entering mainstream society and so that left very, very few options for those Chinese migrants," she said.
Lui said this is why so many Chinese-owned restaurants sprang up in small towns, primarily close to the rail line.
Municipal councils across Essex County and in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia have spent this year’s budget season trying to keep tax increases manageable while battling inflation and soaring policing costs and weighing the immediate cost of repairing aging infrastructure against the long-term cost of holding off.
Construction on Marda Loop’s main streets project may have quieted down, but redevelopment work continues at several locations along 34th Avenue. This time, the focus is on preserving the street’s history.
As both the provincial and federal governments hone in on mining opportunities in northern Ontario, supporting local industries and building safer highways are top of mind for regional leaders this year.
Tucked inside Toronto’s leafy, quiet and private residential neighbourhoods are facades that tell the story of another time in the city’s urban planning history.
Ontario’s two main opposition parties will try to turn the page on what was a difficult year, with one rebuilding after an underwhelming leadership vote result and another searching for a new person to take the party helm.
This year, two things will happen to Canada's fiscal watchdog: Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques will be replaced or made permanent, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will publish its review of the office.
As the era of bilateral bad blood between Canada and the U.S. drags on, some snowbirds are facing a choice this January: Go south to warmer climes, or boycott a country that has gone from friend to somewhat of a foe.
RCMP are warning people of slippery conditions on the Trans-Canada Highway after a transport truck slid off the road in the area of Clarenville, N.L.
Sidney Crosby is remembering fellow Nova Scotian Lowell MacDonald, a former NHLer who died Sunday, as an inspiration to his career.
Moncton artist Alan Spinney doesn't usually paint on a five-by-five inch canvas, but he and his wife have started doing that for a new mini-art gallery.
Residents of Pimicikamak Cree Nation are celebrating and relieved now that power and electricity are being restored to the community.
Two people are dead after an early-morning highway collision on New Year’s Day, the Saskatoon Fire Department said Thursday morning.
A small group of Haitian Canadians celebrated the island nation's Independence Day at a B.C. church on Thursday by serving soup that symbolizes freedom.